---

Iraq

My Lords, I thank my noble friend for the way in which she dealt with the preposterous allegation from the noble Lord, Lord Strathclyde, that my right honourable friend the Prime Minister went to Iraq with the purpose of upstaging the Tory Party conference. That is a truly preposterous, almost outrageous, accusation. Of course, it was his duty to go and he was right to go when he did. Every right-minded person knows that. On the interesting point about Iran and Syria, the Statement talks about a more constructive world by their halting their support for terrorists and armed groups. A lot of us would draw a distinction between Iran and Syria in this respect. We know that under the previous Prime Minister, Sir Nigel Sheinwald went to try to have a more constructive relationship with the Syrians. Can my noble friend say any more about how a constructive relationship might now be taken forward, particularly with the Syrians, who are, of course, part of the Arab League?